[/COLOR][LEFT][FONT=verdana][COLOR=#ffffff][I]Each week, thanks to play-by-play game dissection by ProFootballFocus.com, I'll look at one important matchup or individual performance metric from one of the Sunday games. PFF czar Neil Horsnby's take on Bruce Arians taking over the Arizona Cardinals --and leaving Indianapolis:[/I]"How quickly things change in the NFL. Slightly over a year ago the Pittsburgh Steelers were replacing Bruce Arians as their offensive coordinator with Todd Haley and now, on the back of a remarkable season with Indianapolis, he is Arizona's new coach."Without Arians as his mentor, this was probably Ben Roethlisberger's best year; at PFF we gave him his highest grade by some margin, seeing his percentage of poor throws drop from 16.4 percent in 2011 to 10.5 this year. The truth is the offense wasn't at the heart of the Steelers' problems this year, but the defense, while still good, slipped from its suffocating best and allowed 5.4 points more per game."There was only one significant difference between the Arians- and Haley-coached Steelers offense: Pittsburgh didn't throw deep nearly as much this year. In 2011 Roethlisberger threw deep (over 20 yards) on 13.6 percent of his drop-backs (good for ninth among ranked quarterbacks) while in 2012 that number dropped to 10.5 percent (26th). He threw far fewer posts and corners and compensated with more hitches to his wideouts and passes to the backs."In Indianapolis, Arians brought the deep ball with him. He had Andrew Luck air it out (going over 20 yards) on 15.9 percent of his throws. And while the rookie may have been inconsistent, he was also remarkably resilient. He was knocked to the ground 148 times during the season, an unbelievable 32 percent more than any other player, and never missed a snap. In fact, it could have been considerably worse but for Luck proving to be a skilled scrambler as well, actually rushing for more yards than Cam Newton when forced out of the pocket."What does it mean for Arizona quarterbacks, whoever they may be in 2013? Based on the evidence from Pittsburgh and Indianapolis, implementing a long-ball passing game requires a number of things. First, an accurate quarterback. Roethlisberger in 2011 wasn't great, with a 34 percent completion rate over 20 yards, while Luck was very good in 2012 at 43 percent. Second, without a great offensive line, you need to accept your QB will be hit regularly and needs to be able to take his knocks. Even the incredibly tough Roethlisberger suffered in this regard."As a group, the Cardinals' current passer threw deep on only 8.6 percent of 2012 dropbacks and had a 22 percent accuracy rate when doing so. The offensive line, while improving, is still poor and the fragility of the guys behind them is well known. Kevin Kolb made strides this year and it would be wrong to write him off as an option, but it seems unlikely he'll fit the bill as another Andrew Luck. So who else could fit the bill? In 2011 Matt Moore threw deep on 17 percent of throws, with an accuracy rate of 48 percent in the Dolphins late-season resurgence. Matt Flynn has a much sturdier frame, although his body of work is limited before you even consider trade value ... and who knows if Seattle would trade him within the division?"Arians faced the same difficult task turning around the Indianapolis offense in 2012 as he will with the Cardinals in 2013. One slight difference in the two places: He won't have Luck to work with in Arizona."

yeah I don't know what happened with that font...I'll try to change it.

01-29-2013, 08:30 PM

RuthlessBurgher

I think Andrew Luck will thrive with his Stanford O.C. (Pep Hamilton) coming to Indy to replace Arians as O.C.

The kid is smart and accurate, so he should blossom further with shorter, quick passing game, including less sacks and less interceptions as well.

Arians, on the other hand, inherits a crap OL and a crap QB situation in the desert. Whoever lines up under center for the Cards is likely to get himself killed after one or two 7-step drop calls.

02-03-2013, 11:48 AM

NorthCoast

King really needs to factor in Ben's injury. As I already noted in another thread, the pace of deep balls was almost the same in 2012 as in 2011 [U]pre-injury. [/U] Post-injury the O under Ben was really reigned in, whether intentional or not.

02-03-2013, 12:05 PM

Oviedo

[QUOTE=NorthCoast;547684]King really needs to factor in Ben's injury. As I already noted in another thread, the pace of deep balls was almost the same in 2012 as in 2011 [U]pre-injury. [/U]Post-injury the O under Ben was really reigned in, whether intentional or not.[/QUOTE]

Without the injury Ben would have had the best season of his career and we would have made the play offs. He was never the same after he got hurt.

06-09-2013, 11:24 PM

hawaiiansteel

[B]Sean Payton, Bruce Arians among best play-callers in NFL today[/B]

NFL.com
June 8, 2013

We're still three months away from meaningful plays, but play-calling is always a hot topic. Just this week, the Dallas Cowboys officially announced that offensive coordinator Bill Callahan will take over play-calling duties from head coach Jason Garrett. Meanwhile, Sean Payton said the New Orleans Saints have yet to nail down their offensive chain of command.

Obviously, this is an area of chief importance across the league, begging one simple question: Who is the best offensive play-caller in the NFL?

Jason Smith
NFL.com

[B]Bruce Arians is finally getting his due as an offensive genius[/B]

It's Bruce Arians, and everyone else. Now you know why, without a marquee running back, the Pittsburgh Steelers were so dominant while he was calling plays for them. He finally got his credit last season, as the Indianapolis Colts surprised everyone by winning 11 games with a rookie quarterback, average talent at wide receiver and tight end, and below-average talent in the backfield. And remember how the Colts did it? By driving long distances late in games to beat Minnesota, Green Bay, Tennessee and Detroit -- in addition to being able to salt away other games late with time-consuming drives.

Arians is what you'd call a late bloomer, but it's terrific that he's at the party. And even though he hired Harold Goodwin to be his offensive coordinator in Arizona, Arians will still call the plays for the Cardinals in 2013. I can't wait to see what he does, as I expect Larry Fitzgerald to return to prominence, and Carson Palmer to turn into Kurt Warner with a late-career desert resurgence.

Bucky Brooks
NFL.com

[B]Sean Payton is in a class of his own[/B]

Sean Payton is the top offensive play caller in the NFL, and it's not even close. Now, that's not a slight to the other great play-callers across the league, but no one matches Payton in the preparation and in-game-adjustment phases. He cleverly uses a mixture of formations and personnel groupings to exploit the weaknesses of the opponent, while operating at a rapid tempo. The Saints are one of the quickest teams to the line of scrimmage following a play, which speaks volumes about his ability to think two or three steps ahead as a play-caller.

Additionally, Payton has an outstanding feel for the game and how to set opponents up for big plays off schematic complements. Watching the Saints on tape, I've always been impressed with how well they use the "First 15" script to set up home-run plays in the second half. While most offensive coordinators attempt to utilize this approach, few can match Payton's sense of timing, awareness and anticipation when it comes to dialing up explosives.

Lastly, Peyton deserves the top spot because he is brilliant with in-game adjustments. He shows tremendous patience in sticking with his original game plan, but will make minor tweaks and adjustments to take advantage of defensive coordinator's tactical plans. This routinely results in the Saints catching fire in the second half after experiencing a series of three-and-outs early in the game.

That article is going to put some Steeler fans into a frothing frenzy when they read that Arians is getting love for his play calling. I can't wait for the meltdowns to begin.

Pappy

06-10-2013, 07:47 AM

Eich

[QUOTE=costanza2k1;547048]yeah I don't know what happened with that font...I'll try to change it.[/QUOTE]

It's not the font. It's the lack of paragraphs. Try this:

The Deep End

Each week, thanks to play-by-play game dissection by ProFootballFocus.com, I'll look at one important matchup or individual performance metric from one of the Sunday games.

PFF czar Neil Horsnby's take on Bruce Arians taking over the Arizona Cardinals --and leaving Indianapolis:"How quickly things change in the NFL. Slightly over a year ago the Pittsburgh Steelers were replacing Bruce Arians as their offensive coordinator with Todd Haley and now, on the back of a remarkable season with Indianapolis, he is Arizona's new coach."Without Arians as his mentor, this was probably Ben Roethlisberger's best year; at PFF we gave him his highest grade by some margin, seeing his percentage of poor throws drop from 16.4 percent in 2011 to 10.5 this year.

The truth is the offense wasn't at the heart of the Steelers' problems this year, but the defense, while still good, slipped from its suffocating best and allowed 5.4 points more per game."There was only one significant difference between the Arians- and Haley-coached Steelers offense: Pittsburgh didn't throw deep nearly as much this year. In 2011 Roethlisberger threw deep (over 20 yards) on 13.6 percent of his drop-backs (good for ninth among ranked quarterbacks) while in 2012 that number dropped to 10.5 percent (26th). He threw far fewer posts and corners and compensated with more hitches to his wideouts and passes to the backs."

In Indianapolis, Arians brought the deep ball with him. He had Andrew Luck air it out (going over 20 yards) on 15.9 percent of his throws. And while the rookie may have been inconsistent, he was also remarkably resilient. He was knocked to the ground 148 times during the season, an unbelievable 32 percent more than any other player, and never missed a snap. In fact, it could have been considerably worse but for Luck proving to be a skilled scrambler as well, actually rushing for more yards than Cam Newton when forced out of the pocket."What does it mean for Arizona quarterbacks, whoever they may be in 2013?

Based on the evidence from Pittsburgh and Indianapolis, implementing a long-ball passing game requires a number of things. First, an accurate quarterback. Roethlisberger in 2011 wasn't great, with a 34 percent completion rate over 20 yards, while Luck was very good in 2012 at 43 percent. Second, without a great offensive line, you need to accept your QB will be hit regularly and needs to be able to take his knocks. Even the incredibly tough Roethlisberger suffered in this regard.

"As a group, the Cardinals' current passer threw deep on only 8.6 percent of 2012 dropbacks and had a 22 percent accuracy rate when doing so. The offensive line, while improving, is still poor and the fragility of the guys behind them is well known. Kevin Kolb made strides this year and it would be wrong to write him off as an option, but it seems unlikely he'll fit the bill as another Andrew Luck. So who else could fit the bill? In 2011 Matt Moore threw deep on 17 percent of throws, with an accuracy rate of 48 percent in the Dolphins late-season resurgence. Matt Flynn has a much sturdier frame, although his body of work is limited before you even consider trade value ... and who knows if Seattle would trade him within the division?"

Arians faced the same difficult task turning around the Indianapolis offense in 2012 as he will with the Cardinals in 2013. One slight difference in the two places: He won't have Luck to work with in Arizona."

[QUOTE=Eich;564623]It's not the font. It's the lack of paragraphs. Try this:

The Deep End

Each week, thanks to play-by-play game dissection by ProFootballFocus.com, I'll look at one important matchup or individual performance metric from one of the Sunday games.

PFF czar Neil Horsnby's take on Bruce Arians taking over the Arizona Cardinals --and leaving Indianapolis:"How quickly things change in the NFL. Slightly over a year ago the Pittsburgh Steelers were replacing Bruce Arians as their offensive coordinator with Todd Haley and now, on the back of a remarkable season with Indianapolis, he is Arizona's new coach."Without Arians as his mentor, this was probably Ben Roethlisberger's best year; at PFF we gave him his highest grade by some margin, seeing his percentage of poor throws drop from 16.4 percent in 2011 to 10.5 this year.

[B]The truth is the offense wasn't at the heart of the Steelers' problems this year, but the defense, while still good, slipped from its suffocating best and allowed 5.4 points more per game[/B]."There was only one significant difference between the Arians- and Haley-coached Steelers offense: Pittsburgh didn't throw deep nearly as much this year. In 2011 Roethlisberger threw deep (over 20 yards) on 13.6 percent of his drop-backs (good for ninth among ranked quarterbacks) while in 2012 that number dropped to 10.5 percent (26th). He threw far fewer posts and corners and compensated with more hitches to his wideouts and passes to the backs."

In Indianapolis, Arians brought the deep ball with him. He had Andrew Luck air it out (going over 20 yards) on 15.9 percent of his throws. And while the rookie may have been inconsistent, he was also remarkably resilient. He was knocked to the ground 148 times during the season, an unbelievable 32 percent more than any other player, and never missed a snap. In fact, it could have been considerably worse but for Luck proving to be a skilled scrambler as well, actually rushing for more yards than Cam Newton when forced out of the pocket."What does it mean for Arizona quarterbacks, whoever they may be in 2013?

Based on the evidence from Pittsburgh and Indianapolis, implementing a long-ball passing game requires a number of things. First, an accurate quarterback. Roethlisberger in 2011 wasn't great, with a 34 percent completion rate over 20 yards, while Luck was very good in 2012 at 43 percent. Second, without a great offensive line, you need to accept your QB will be hit regularly and needs to be able to take his knocks. Even the incredibly tough Roethlisberger suffered in this regard.

"As a group, the Cardinals' current passer threw deep on only 8.6 percent of 2012 dropbacks and had a 22 percent accuracy rate when doing so. The offensive line, while improving, is still poor and the fragility of the guys behind them is well known. Kevin Kolb made strides this year and it would be wrong to write him off as an option, but it seems unlikely he'll fit the bill as another Andrew Luck. So who else could fit the bill? In 2011 Matt Moore threw deep on 17 percent of throws, with an accuracy rate of 48 percent in the Dolphins late-season resurgence. Matt Flynn has a much sturdier frame, although his body of work is limited before you even consider trade value ... and who knows if Seattle would trade him within the division?"

Arians faced the same difficult task turning around the Indianapolis offense in 2012 as he will with the Cardinals in 2013. One slight difference in the two places: He won't have Luck to work with in Arizona."